Somewhere to Belong
by Aasta The Evil Bunny Foo Foo
Summary: I've never really belonged. I've always been watching, never doing. Well not anymore, I swear I'm gonna prove myself, not just to my brother and his friends but also to myself. I'm going to be strong! One day I'll beat the all, even Hiei. Possible Hieixoc
1. On My Own

_A/N Well here's my first YYH fic. I'm sorry if I misplled anything. It'll might be a Hieixoc. Oh and deffinitions are at the end._

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**Chapter 1: On My Own**

_A girl with long brown hair and chocolate brown eyes stood on the beach with the waves splashing against her legs. She stood all alone it seemed, even though her friends were not that far off. She looked out at the sunset as iff in deep thought. I knew what she was thinking about, she was always thinking about him, my stupid idiotic older brother. _

_"Yusuke," she murmured. For some reason that name brought a mixture of emotion to here face, love, pain, sadness, and anger. All of the sudden she began to yell, causing the others to look at her. "This is the end!! I'm tired of waiting for you Yusuke, half my life I've waited for you to come around!! Even when you were here, you weren't really, you weren't here for me! Go on fighting, but it's time that I get what I want."_

_"I could cry," a blue haired girl named Botan said softly, watching nearby._

_Everyone stood there silent looking at their feet. We could all feel it, Botan, Kuwabara, Kurama, Yukina, Shizuru, and me... we could all fell Keiko's pain and her breaking heart. _'Yusuke, why aren't you here?'_ I wondered to myself. _'Seeing her like this... seeing everyone like this, it just wasn't right. You should be here with them. They should be happy, WITH you.'_ Unable to look at Keiko's form any more I looked away like the coward I was and closed my eyes, but it didn't block out the air around her, it didn't block out any of her sadness. Far off to my left I heard the crunch of sand beneath someone's feet._

_"I don't want you to wait either," I heard a familiar voice say softly._

'That voice,' _I thought as my head snapped up. I heard a gasp escape Keiko and the other's lips as they looked over at the mysterious newcomer. I couldn't help but smile as I watched Keiko gaze at my brother. He seemed he hadn't changed one bit, same black hair, same brown eyes, even the same clothes. It was like he was a ghost._

_"See you don't have to," he smiled._

_I could hear her ragged breathing as she walked towards him, stumbling a littled as if she was in a daze. Hell I wouldn't blame her. Slowly a smile grazed her face as her eyes lit up as if she realized it wasn't a dream. Happily she ran towards him, calling his name. His eyes widened as she leapt at him hugging him tightly, laughing as the fell to the ground._

_"I see one of us has gotten more athletic since I've been gone," he groaned._

_Her radiated off of her as she looked into his eyes, before long she closed the distance and kissed him. _'Sweet,' _I thought. Yusuke eyes widened at the shock of what she was doing. All of a sudden a wave of water came crashing down onto the two. Kurama and Shizuru began to laugh at the sight before them. When the water drew back Yusuke and Keiko where sitting a meter away from each other, staring into the other's eyes._

_"Awe, you're gonna pay for that one Keiko," Yusuke threatened beginning to chase after her. "You stole that lip time from me, now come here."_

_Soon it turned into a huge water fight between everyone. I sat on a rock and watched, it was always like that. I was the spectator if anything else to the others. Ironic though, seeing how I had only one eye. But watching them, my brother and his friends, I realized something, I didn't belong there anymore... I never did really. My smile faded as I stood up and turned my back on the only family I ever knew. _

_'I didn't belong there,' _I thought, walking thorugh a forest. _'Maybe I never did... It felt right leaving them, I don't know why but it did. _Sadly I looked up through the trees at the stars. It was getting late and I needed to rest, but something inside of me told me to continue forward. It had been about a month since I had left the others behind. I guess you could say maybe I was a coward for doing such a dispicable thing by running away, but like I've said it felt right. I mean I never really fitted in the with others, they could all joke around and laugh, the could fell anger, sadness, fear... love, me, I never really felt any of it. Emptiness, that's what I felt.

Finally I stopped when I came to a small stream. carefully I took in my surrounding looking for any type of enemy. When I certain I was safe I knelt down in front of the water and drank. For a while I just sat there and stared at my reflection. Like Yusuke I had black hair, but mine fell down just past my shoulders. I noted how dirty and torn my clothes were, but it didn't really matter... until winter that is. My green eye stared at me bored and dead, the spot where my other eyes should have been was covered by a green bandana. I gazed at myself for a whil longer.

"I hate you," I said to myself, splashing the water making my face distorted.

Slowly I stood up an climbed a tree and settled down on a branch. The emptiness seemed to subside a little when i watched the moon and the stars, the night sky always did that to me. It was always so calming and peaceful, even when the world was not. I felt my eyes slowly get heavier and heavier until I fell fast asleep, clutching a small dagger.

"Hn," someone said, "Go get her."

"Yessir," said another voice.

I felt someone far below me begin to climb the tree. _'What the hell?' _I thought to myself. _'Stay calm Yumi.' _All my senses stood on edge as I waited for whoever it was to reach me. I could hear him on the branch below me grunting. When I felt him grab my right arm my eye flew open. Without hesitation I used the dagger in my hand to stab whoever in the arm. He cried out in agony as I yanked my blade free and jumped to the next branch. Looking down at the branch I had just been sleeping on I spotted a demon with blue scaly skin and a lizard's tail stood there, clutching the arm she had stabbed. _'Great,' _I inwardly groaned. _'This is suppose to be Yusuke's territory not mine... Oh well can't be helped.' _Not wanting to harm the poor creature I turned my back on him and ran.

_'Please don't follow, please don't follow, please don't follow,' _I prayed. After a while I landed on the ground thinking that I had gone far enough. The sound of rushing bushes caught my ears as I got in a fighting stance. _'Dammit he followed.' _Right after that though the demon I had injured came bursting though the trees. Without even thinking he charged at me, probably out of anger that a human was able to harm him. I easily dodged his attack by stepping to one side. As he flew pas me I used both hands and grabbed his tail. Using his weight against him I began to spin round and round. When I got plenty of momentum I released him. He soared through the air for several feet... until he met a tree that is.

"Baka," I mumbled.

Once again I turned my back on him. _'This is pointless. He's gonna die if he keeps this up,' _I thought. Quickly, me sensitive ears heard the stupid demon getting to his feet and charged at me once again. From my sleeve I pulled out my dagger as I turned around. I was just in time to see him a few inches away from me. Quickly, I used my dagger and cut the same arm I harmed again, but this time it was deeper, much deeper. With a cry he fell to the ground clutching his wound as it bled severely.

"Kutabare," I mumbled.

"Now is that anyway to speak to your protectors," a voice asked mockingly.

Still gripping my dagger I spun around to prepare for another attack. When I saw who it was though I almost dropped it. Right in front of me was a famiiliar black haired, three eyed, fire apparition. _'Hiei,' _I thought in shock. _'If Hiei's here that must mean...' _

"_Kuso_," I swore.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded.

"I guess I got lost," I mumbled, rubbing the back of my head. _'How in the hell id I get to the Makai?'_

"Baka onna," he said.

"Hey I resent that," I defended. "Heh so I guess I'm not in the Ningenkai anymore?"

"Come on," he ordered.

Turning his back on me he slowly began to lead the way where I first encountered the demon. I watched him as he stopped and picked up the now dead demon and continued walking as if expecting me to follow. That's when I realized that I didn't want any help. If I screwed up It was my fault and I'd want to fix it on my own. So I turned on my heels and walked off in a different direction. _'Yusuke's right I am stubborn,' _I laughed. Too bad I didn't get very far, I had only got about 100 meter when I bumped into someone wearing a black cloak.

"You're going the wrong way onna,"he stated.

"Don't care," I replied, walking around him, only to be blocked once again.

"Still the wrong way onna," she said.

"Like I said_ I don't care_," I sneered dragging out the last three words. "I'll find my own way out."

"You're more of a fool than Kuwabara," he said. "You're gonna die out here."

"Hn."

I had had enough of this guy, and I knew he had had enough of me too. Hiei and I usually got along, mainly because we stayed away from each other.I could feel his anger rising up inside of him. I didn't care though. Once again I tried to pass him but this time he dropped the demon on his shoulder and grabbed my arm. I turned to face him and glared. _'Let go dammit!!'_

"I have a job to do onna, now come along or I'll be forced to carry you," he threatened.

"Just tell you're stupid boss that you found me dead," I sneered, yanking my arm free, "I don't care what you say just let me go."

"Onna," he growled. "You're tiring my patience. Dose Uremish even know where you are?"

"Nope."

This time when I tired to escape I jumped up into a three and began to leap form branch to branch. Before I got too far away I heard him once again pick up the dead body and head off in the opposite direction. _'Good boy,' _I thought. _'Let me do this on my own.'_

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_A/N um... I know it's a lil odd... but I proms it'll get it better and I'll do my best to add more of Yusuke and the others. :D_

_**Kuso - Shit**_

**_Baka - Fool/idiot_**

**_Onna - Girl_**

_kutabare - Drop dead_

_So PLEASE Review!!_


	2. Six Months

_A/N Sorry, didn't mean for it to take this long. hope ya enjoy. And don't forget to review, Please._

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**Chapter 2: Six Months**

Six months passed and Yuseke began to loose hope. _Six months, six God damn months Yumi! You've never been gone this long, _he yelled in head. The day he had returned he was excited at seeing two people, Keiko and his little sister Yumi. He ad spent six months with the woman he loved, but always nagging at the back his head was voice that fretted over his sister. He still remembered her first day of middle school- even though he had done it the year before- she seemed so young and frail. They had both agreed that she could take care of herself, but when one of her year mates began to tease her about her missing eye and did his best to take advantage of her, Yusuke couldn't hold his anger in any longer. He had knocked the boy silly and left countless of bruises and as always Yumi had given him shit for it. _Those were the days. _They had always been like that, Yumi acted tough and used her mind more than her muscles, while he had knocked anyone's head in who dared to speak unkindly to his baby sister.

It was snowing now, the flakes fell down from the heavens. Everyone had gathered at Genkai's temple for Christmas, and tonight was Christmas eve. A part of him expected for Yumi to come walking up the steps and come running into the door and knock Kuwabara down to the ground, like she use to. But he knew it wouldn't happen, he knew it was just a dream. Just as he was about go inside a short black figure came walking up the steps. _No way... Yumi? _he thought as he ran towards the figure. It couldn't be her, whoever it was, was as short as she was, but then he saw the gravity defying hair. Quickly, he came to a erupt stop.

"Hiei," he said.

"Hn," was all the fire demon said as he walked past.

Silently, the two entered the living room. All eyes were on Hiei in complete shock. Without a word the fire apparition walked over to the windowsill and sat down. Even though Kurama had convinced him to come by, saying that he would be able to see Yunkina he still didn't have to socialize with the bakas. Everyone else though sang and was merry thoughout the night. When the clock stuck midnight Kuwabara and Botan cheered and begged to open presents. One by one, Keiko handed out the colourfully wrapped gifts. When she came to a small purple one in the shape of a book, she fell silent. The sadness she tired to hide could easily be detected by looking in her chocolate brown eyes.

"Who is it for?" Kuwabara asked.

"Yumi," she whispered.

"Oh! I'm so stupid," Botan cried. "I bought that books months ago for her, thinking that she'd be back for Christmas."

Everyone turned to Yusuke. He seemed really out of it as he eyed the present in Keikos hands. A type of sadness consumed him. Hiei felt a pang of guilt as he watched the ex-detective. He knew what it was like to be a brother and not know where the sister you felt obilgated to protect was, and yet he had never told anyone about the short encounter he had with the onna.

"I can't believe it's been six months and yet none of us has seen here," Yusuke murmured.

"Yeah," everyone sighed.

"I have," Hiei mumbled. Everyone's head shot up, while the half demon jumped to his feet as if about to run out sided and begin to search for his younger sister. "She was in the Makai five months ago. She's probably dead by now."

Without warning he felt a death grip around his throat. his eyes widened by a fraction as he stared into murderous brown eyes. "And you didn't bring her back?" Yusuke sneered.

"She's too much like you," Hiei breathed.

"What's that suppose to mean?" Yusuke snapped, tightening his grip.

"Yusuke please stop," Yukina begged, running over to the boys.

"I think what Hiei means is that Yumi is as stubborn as you are and if he tired to stop her it would be pointless," Kurama tired to explain.

"So let go dimwit," Genkai ordered.

With a grunt Yusuke let him go, and sat back down on the couch. "What I don't get is how she got away from you, you are suppose to be a demon."

"Hn," was all he could say. _What was I suppose to do? Drag her back here only for her to escape again?' _he wondered. _But... I don't know maybe I should have... she's dead by now though, and they all know it._

_'Come on Yumi! Just keep running. You can't fight three demons at once.' _I thought, running for my life. Even after six months of being on my own I was still lost in the Makai. Anyways I was trying to find water when I bumped into a group of demons, and we all know how much they hate humans. So here I am running away from three B class demons, trying no to get eaten. Damn how I hate demons sometmes. Just when I thought I had gotten away someonce grabbed me from behind and tucked me under their arm as if I was a fuckin' sack.

"Let me _GO!!_" I screamed., kicking and screaming.

"But you're such a delicious snack," the demon said.

"You heard the human, let her go," an unfamilliar voice ordered.

"And who are _you_?" the demon demanded, turning to face the newcomer.

He was also a demon, but unlike the idiot that held me he seemed intellegent. He had dark blue hair that was cut short, and piercing sea green eyes that you could practically swim in. he wore a white muscle shirt that was covered with dirt and blood, but his pants where coal black hiding any soot. His demon engery was pretty high, not as strong as Kurmaa or Hiei, but strong enough to take out the demon and his buddies out.

The two demons glared at each other for what seemed a long time. I could feel my temper get the better of me. With a loud groan I bit down on my captor's esposed arm. _'Nasty!' _I felt the demon loosen his grip around my waist as I fell to the ground. Not waisting any time I jumped to my feet and pulled out my dagger. Without a second thought I slit the bastard throat. The next thing I knew one of his buddies had me pinned down on the ground ready to feast on my flesh. I squeezed my eyes shut awaiting for my death.

But the fangs never pierced my skin. Instead the body was thrown off of me. the next thing I heard was two bodies hitting he ground. Cautiously, I opened my eyes to come face to face with the blue haired demon. Out of pure shock I sprung backwards.

"If I wanted to kill ya I would've done it by now," he said, before standing up. "Come on lets go."

"Huh?" was all I could muster. _'Go? Go where?'_

"Well, I can't let such a pretty human like yourself wander the Makai on your own. Now can I?" he teased.

Quickly, I jumped to my feet and picked up my dagger. I turned and glared into my saviour's eyes. "I can take care of myself thank you very much."

"Sure," was all he said. "I could actually use your help."

"But-"

"I know you can take care of yourself it seems pretty evident. I did just watch you kill a demon after all. I just asumed that you'd be up for a new challenge with me and my crew."

"And who would _you _be?" I demanded, putting my hands on my hips.

"Kaden, Master Thief, and leader of Team Inuzuka," he said, bowing slightly.

"Stop mocking me," I snapped.

"I was just hoping you'd join my team... if you can pass the test," he challenged, with a smirk on his face.

"Hn," I said, walking towards him. "Which way now?"


	3. Again?

_A/N Oh dang, sorry, sorry, and sorry, I'm really really sorry that I haven't updated in oh... about three months, my computer had a meltdonw and writer's block doesnt help either. Well here's the next chapter. I hope you like it. PLEASE REVIEW!! or I may cry... probably not._

**Chapter 3: Again?**

"Hey toddler, I thought I was fired?" Yusuke questioned barging into the God's office.

"You were," Koenma said seriously. Looking around Yusuke came face to face with his old friends, Hiei, Kurama, Kuwabara and Genkai. "That's not why you're here."

"Then why the hell did you bring us here?"

"Well once again you have been invited to the Dark Tournament," Koenma stated. Everyone around him groaned.

"Been there done that."

"Like last time it is _not _a request... except for you Genkai," the toddler added.

"Lucky hag," Yusuke grumbled.

"You're lucky this time though, you won't have to go though the preliminaries like last time," Koenma said.

"I think that was shorty's favourite part though," Kuwabara said. Out of a corner of his eye he saw the tiniest of smirks on Hiei's face.

"Keiko's gonna kill me," Yusuke mumbled. "Well we better get training."

_**-o-**_

"Yum-Yum, hurry up!!" a red haired male called, as they began to board a boat.

_'I thought I told him not to call me that,' _I grumbled inwardly as I caught up to my teammates. There are five of us all together. Ryuu- the baka that had called me Yum-Yum was a dragon demon, and with his flaming red hair and golden eyes it was sort of hard to miss. There was Iwao, a rock demon that thirsted for blood and power. Then there was a dog demon named Daiki, he reminded me a lot of Kurama with his love of nature and his understanding of plants and their healing powers. He had silver hair, and misty blue eyes that the females could stare in for hours. Lastly there was our captain and my saviour Kaden, he was a handsome, blue haired, water demon. Put us all together and you got Team Inuzuka.

As the boat began to move I stared at my reflection, I had changed a lot in the past year. My hair was no longer coal black but the same shade of navy blue as Kaden's... and my eye, it had turned from green to grey. I knew if I opened my mouth that it would show fangs. I was no longer human... well fully human, I am a half breed, and it was all thanks to Kaden.

_**-o-**_

_It was a few weeks after I had joined Team Inuzuka. Kaden and the others had taken me under their wing after I beat Ryuu in a fight when he tried to steal my food. We had been in a fight with a couple of stupid demons... well I guess the weren't so stupid after all. One of the demons I had killed had put a poison on their blade and unfortunately he had stabbed me with it. Once the fight was over I fell to my knees and clutched my wound. Quickly, Daiki ran over to me and began to examine me. _

_"So?" Kaden asked._

_"It's a powerful poison... I'm afraid she won't make it. Her human body is too weak," Daiki said sadly._

'Shit,' _I swore. Carefully Ryuu picked me up and carried me to our campsite. I laid by the fire and watched as the others ate quietly. Once they were done Kaden sat me up and helped me drink some water. I could feel the poison taking effect, my body felt weak and slowly my world began to fade. _'I... I don't want to die like this,' _I thought._

_"Isn't there anything we can do?" Ryuu asked._

_"She's a human, this poison is easy enough for our bodies to defeat... but her's... it's far too weak," Daiki tried to explain for the thousandth time. _

_"Is that all," Kaden said. _

_Without another word he walked over to where I lay and grabbed my left arm. I felt cool metal graze again my wrist, I knew I should have felt pain but it seemed too much work for me to comprehend it. I did feel pain though when something warm was pressed against the cut though. The warmness that was against my wound grew from there and continued up my arm, until it warmed my whole body. The warmth quickly grew and soon became a burning sensation. I felt like I should have screamed in pain, but my mouth wouldn't work. Slowly, the heat subsided and my temperature dove down as if as I was swimming in a cool stream._

_"THAT was dangerous," I heard Daiki scold. "If her body didn't accept your blood she could have-"_

_"Died? You mean like she was going to anyways?" he snapped._

_**-o-**_

When I woke up the next day I was like this, half water demon. When the boat was farther out in the water the captain of the ship came out on deck. Right in front of him a fighting arena from below came up from below deck. All the teams came and gathered around the deck as we waited for instructions.

"All righty matey's we got a lil problim here, yeh see the cometee is only expectin' one team ta come off of this here boat," the captain explained. "So ta make life easy, fer me anyways, each team will send up their best fighter and whoever is left standing his team shall actually fight in the Dark Tournament."

_'Great,' _I groaned. We all turned towards Kaden to await his orders. For a few seconds he just stared at us. Finally he looked at Iwao and gave him a nod. With a sly grin on his face the rock demon jumped up onto the arena and waited for the order to begin. He didn't have to wait long though, a few second later the captain gave the word to start. _'Good choice,' _I complimented. Iwao stood back as he watched for a moment. _'Hurry up!' _As if he heard me I felt his demon energy rise as well as the stone that was the arena. The next thing anyone knew the other fighters' bodies were covered by a layer of stone. Iwao now stood in the center of everything with his right hand raised. When her made a fist and tightly squeezed, the stone figures around him collapse on themselves, spraying blood everywhere. With the same sly grin he jumped out of the arena and came walking towards us.

Unfortunately, the other teams didn't like this arrangement. They began to surround us, brandishing their weapons and raising their demon energy. With a sigh I looked over at Kaden who gave another slight nod. With his permission I used my new gift and felt for the gallons of water that was under me as did Kaden. With our will, we commanded the water to rise out above the boat and crash down on our pursuers, washing most of them into the water. The ones that were left were quickly deposed of by Ryuu's claws and Daiki's whip. When the boat hit shore we were all coved in water and blood, but we were happy, we were going to fight in the Dark Tournament.

When we finally made it to the hotel it felt like we stepped into a whole different. From what I saw on the boat I thought we would be better off sleeping outside. Well I sort of still feel that way, but you can't always get what you want. In our room there were three bedrooms with two beds in each, while all three were connected to a living room. Quickly, Ryuu ran into one of the bedrooms and laid down with a great sigh. _'Well that's one down,' _I thought. Daiki strolled into another room and placed his pack on one of the beds and began to look for his book. The last three looked at the last empty room. Naturally it should have been mine, seeing how I was the only girl and a girl need her privacy, right? Not in this world! Iwao glared at Kaden and I with those blood thirsty eyes and we happily surrendered.

"You can bunk with Ryuu," Kaden suggested.

"If he's drowns in his sleep, don't blame me," I mumbled.

With a sigh I entered the room, only to find the dragon already asleep. With a sigh I placed my pack next to the empty bed and lay down and let sleep consume me. Too bad it didn't last very long. What seemed like seconds I found my self being woken up something cold and wet. Opening my eyes I found myself covered by ice. I quickly spotted the culprit, who by the way was holding an empty bucket. Knowing that he was in trouble he dropped the bucket and backed away.

"Awe c'mon Yum-Yum, I wanted you to come with me to check out the competition," he defended. "And you wouldn't wake up."

"But _ice_," I sneered. "My body temperature is already cold enough."

"It was the only thing I could think of," he countered.

"Hn," was all I said as I stood up.

"Oh come one Imoto-chan, don't give me that," Ryuu protested.

"Stop calling me that," I snapped.

"What you practically are," he argued. "You're my special Imoto-chan."

"Ryuu," I warned.

"Ok, ok. Let's go see what the champs are up to," he suggested.

"Hn."

Slowly we made our ways to the other end of the hotel. From one of the rooms we could hear a great deal of commotion, cautiously we peeked inside the room. There stood the two teams I didn't want to see at the moment, Team Uremshi and team Musho. The two teams were scattered around the room laughing and merrily drinking tea. Well everyone except Hiei of course, who was sitting on the windowsill, looking out to the night sky. It surprised me to see even the girls were there, playing a game of cards with Kuwabara, Kurama, Touya, and Rinku.

_"They don't seem that tough,"_ Ryuu scoffed, talking to me telepathically.

_"You've never seen them fight," _I countered.

_"But look at them they're a bunch of fools. The only one that we have to worry about from the looks is that fire apparition."_

_"Looks can be deceiving," _I snapped. _"YOU should know that better than any of us."_

Just as we were about to slink away someone grabbed our shoulder. Turning around we came face to face with Yusuke. _'Great,' _I inwardly moaned. But the recognition in his eyes that I was expecting to see never came. That's when I remembered that I was in my demon form, as long as I stayed that way they wouldn't recognize me. That was good... very good. With an evil grin on his face Yusuke marched us into the room causing everyone to go quiet.

"Well lookie what I found here," he said.

"If my tinker is workin' right, I'd be ponderin' that that there lad and lass are from Team Inuzuke," Jin said.

"So why were you spying on us?" Yusuke asked seriously.

"We weren't spying," Ryuu lied. "We heard the noise and came to check it out."

"Yeah right," Kuwabara said from his spot. "You just wanted to see if the rumours of The Great Kuwabara were true, and guess what they are."

"What that you're a baka that face resembles a cow's rear end?" I grumbled.

"You're lucky you're a girl, or I would've knocked your out already," he snapped.

"That is if you can get off your lazy ass," I mumbled.

_"Since when are you so talkative?" _Ryuu asked.

_"Hn."_

_"You know that's not an answer."_

_"Well I don't want to answer."_

"So who are you?" Yusuke demanded.

"Maybe if you let us go we'll co-operate," I suggested, and surprisingly he complied.

"Well my name Ryuu and this is Yumi," he answered.

At the mention of my name I watched as my brother's eyes slightly twitch. _'I guess he noticed that I was gone,' _I thought. Just then I felt another presence in my mind, it felt a little familiar. Quickly I realized that Hiei was trying to explore my mind. As fast as I could I placed up a strong barrier that kept everyone except my team mates out. Looking over at the windowsill I saw as Hiei frown by a fraction more, as he glared at me. My only response was a cocky smirk.

"Hey do you want to play cards with us Yumi," Keiko asked.

"Actually _we _should be getting back," I said emphasizing the we part as I glanced as Ryuu.

"It's just one game," Botan said. "It'll be fun I promise. You do know how to play rich man poor man right?"

_"Go on Yum-Yum it'll be fun. Maybe they'll give up something juicy," _Ryuu encouraged.

_"I know enough about Team Uremishi to last me a lifetime Ry," _I sneered.

_"Never knew you'd back away from a challenge," _he countered.

_'Damn him, he knows I can't resist a challenge,' _I cursed inside my head. With a sigh I walked over to the couch and sat next to Kurama, as Keiko began to deal a new hand. It felt odd being around my brother and his friends again. They seemed pretty much the same. Kuwabara was still an idiot, Kurama seemed to be as smart as ever, and Hiei still hasn't spoken a word. Even Yusuke was normal,

_'Why shouldn't they act normal, because you were gone?' _a part of me asked.

_'No, no that's not it. I just thought that maybe after a year Yuseke and Kuwabara might have obtained a brain.' _I defended myself.

_'Really, if you say so, but we both know that you were hoping that they'd miss you,' _that small voice argued.

_'Of course not! Damn it all, that's why I left, I was no use to them... I just got in the way,' _I told myself.

"Yumi!" Botan called.

"Huh?" I asked, returning to reality.

"It's your turn," she state.

"Oh," I said placing down a card. "So are you one of the fighters?"

"Us," Keiko squeaked. "Of course not, I think Yusuke would have a heart attack. Botan, Shiziru and I are just here to support team Urameshi."

"So you don't know how to fight?" I questioned, playing stupid.

"Shiziru dose a little, but Botan, Yukina and I are completely hopeless in that area," she admitted.

"Oh?" I said, feeling my anger rising. How could she be that stupid?! She was surrounded by demons and yet she just told me, a complete stranger, that she can't defend herself. How naive do you get? Quickly, I got my feet and grabbed Keiko's hand and began to drag her out of the room.

"Yumi?" Botan questioned, as she followed us along with Shiziru and Yukina.

"We going for a little walk," I said in a low voice.


End file.
